Forty-six tons of Lean Cuisine baked-chicken meals are being recalled after consumers complained about plastic in the products sold nationwide.

Approximately 92,206 pounds of the meals could be contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically pieces of hard white plastic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced on Saturday.

The problem came to light the prior day after five complaints about the packaged meals manufactured on September 2 by Nestle, which believes the plastic pieces are from a plastic conveyor belt that broke while producing mashed potatoes in the meals.

The recalled meals involve 8 5/8-ounce (244 grams) carton trays of Lean Cuisine baked chicken with “white meat chicken with stuffing, red skin mashed potatoes & gravy.” The products contain the lot code 0246595911 and a “best before” date of October 2021.

The products subject to recall bear establishment number “EST. P-9018” on the side of the case near the lot number.

The FSIS has not received any reports of injury or illness from consumption of the recalled products, and has advised those concerned to contact a health provider. The agency cautions that the recalled products might be sitting in consumers’ freezers.

These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase, the agency added.

Consumers with questions about the recall can contact Nestle Prepared Foods at (800) 993-8625.

It happens many times a day, in kitchens, stores and offices across America: the argument about whether or not a particular plastic package can go into the recycling bin.

“I have this argument with my husband,” said Mary Wood, a law professor who runs the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center at the University of Oregon. “Every time he shops, he’ll buy milk in plastic jugs. I’ll say, ‘No, it’s not recyclable,’ and he points to the recycling symbol and says, ‘Look, it is!'”

It turns out that most of that plastic, even if it has a “recyclable” label on it, is landfilled, burned or makes its way into the oceans. Just a small fraction of the stuff has ever been recycled. The vast majority of recycling facilities in the U.S. can only accept two types of plastic, a Greenpeace report found last year, but even they can only process a small fraction of the plastic waste that’s created every year.

Now, Greenpeace is going after Walmart, saying America’s biggest retailer is misleading shoppers about its plastic products being recyclable instead of trying to sell less of the stuff.

In a lawsuit filed last week in California state court, Greenpeace eviscerates a variety of plastic items sold under Walmart’s private labels. These items, which range from applesauce containers to fruit cups to plastic cups and cutlery, “are advertised, marketed and sold as recyclable,” the lawsuit says, but most recycling facilities don’t accept or can’t process these items and there are no markets to reuse them, according to the suit. This mislabeling of products breaks California laws regarding false advertising and environmental marketing, Greenpeace contends.

“Walmart is the 100-pound gorilla when it comes to global retailers,” said John Hocevar, who leads Greenpeace’s oceans campaign. “Walmart’s plastic footprint, for their own brand products alone, is about a million tons a year.”

Hocevar added: “Walmart is fully aware that a lot of their customers are concerned about plastic, especially single-use plastic. So far, instead of working to reduce their plastic footprint in a significant way, they are greenwashing.”

A Walmart spokesperson said the company “is a strong advocate for the environment” and that its labeling follows the law.

“We previously reviewed these allegations and explained to Greenpeace that the product labeling complies with federal and state laws. Like many other retailers, we rely on labeling developed and validated by our suppliers and sustainability partners, including How2Recycle. We deny Greenpeace’s allegations and intend to defend the company,” the Walmart spokesperson, Randy Hargrove, said in an emailed statement.

Hargrove also noted that Walmart plans to make all its in-house packaging “reusable, compostable and recyclable” in four years, but did not reveal how far along the company is toward meeting that goal.

“Recyclable” in name only

Recycling in the U.S. reached a crisis point in recent years — even before the economic fallout from the coronavirus led many cities and states to cut back on sustainability programs.

A recently published study in the journal Science Advances found that less than one-tenth of all the plastic ever produced by humans has been recycled.

After China, once a major destination for U.S. plastics, stopped accepting imports of most recyclables two years ago, many U.S. cities discontinued or cut back their recycling programs. Some continued to collect previously recyclable plastic but incinerated it, as a Guardian investigation found last year.

An examination of U.S. recycling facilities, which Greenpeace and the nonprofit Last Beach Cleanup released earlier this year, found that only some bottles and jugs made from plastics labeled Nos. 1 or 2 could fairly be called “recyclable.”

The rest, a group called “mixed plastics” that includes items such as plastic cutlery, cups, stirrers and coffee-cup lids; plastic clamshells typically used to package produce; and Styrofoam packaging, can only be accepted at a handful of recycling-processing plants nationwide. Out of the 367 plants in the U.S. that sort materials for recycling, only two accept plastic cutlery, and only four can process plastic plates.

Even the most widely recyclable plastics, Nos. 1 and 2, are actually only recycled part of the time, Greenpeace found. That’s because U.S. processing plants “cannot process the sheer volume of single-use plastic that is submitted to recycling facilities on an annual basis,” the group says in its lawsuit. “The labor and cost required to sort, melt and reconstitute the approximately 33 million tons of single-use plastic produced in the United States every year is insurmountable.”

Most “recyclable” claims unchallenged

A handful of lawsuits in recent years have challenged companies’ environmental claims, but the tactic remains rare.

Earlier this year, the nonprofit Earth Island Institute sued 10 of the largest consumer-goods companies, seeking to hold them responsible for plastic waste.

In 2018, a group of consumers sued Keurig, claiming the coffee company lied about its single-serve “green” plastic coffee pods being recyclable, due to their small size. The suit is being moved into private arbitration.

California prosecutors have also sued Walmart, Amazon and Costco over the labeling of products as “biodegradable;” all three cases settled. Not a single recycling plant in the U.S. can process the pods, a Greenpeace study this year found.

Greenpeace’s suit “would be a game changer if it progresses,” said environmental law professor Wood of the University of Oregon. “Even though it challenges just one company … it could set a precedent that would send ripples throughout the entire corporate world.

“Traditionally we’ve relied on a slew of government agencies to regulate corporate conduct,” Wood said. “And that has failed. It’s failed, because we wouldn’t be in this environmental crisis if it had worked.”

When UPS driver Anthony Gaskin rounded the corner during his delivery route last Tuesday, he saw hundreds of people lining the street, cheering for him. They were residents of the Hallsley neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia, who consider Gaskin a hero.

They gathered to thank Gaskin for being a positive light during the dark days of the pandemic. The group was organized by Patty Friedman.

“Through COVID, Anthony has continued working, delivering packages at our doors, record numbers of them, over 180 times to date,” Friedman told CBS affiliate WTVR. “I wanted to thank him personally for how much he helped me feel welcome when I moved in during a pandemic. It was terribly lonely and he was always the highlight of my day.”

“Mentioning this to a few people and the response I got was all I needed to know I was not alone,” Friedman continued.

When Gaskin pulled up that day, he was shocked by the number of people lining the street, holding up signs and shouting his name. Even his UPS supervisors showed up to celebrate his hard work.

“A humble man, he needed to be coaxed, but eventually, slowly drove his truck down the road while children and adults held up signs, screamed his name, honked their horns, and rang bells,” Friedman said. Photos show Gaskin visibly moved by the gesture, wiping away tears.

Several residents praised the essential worker for his dedication and positivity during the pandemic.

“Anthony always smiles, waves, and goes above and beyond to deliver packages with care,” one neighbor told WTVR. “He makes you feel like a friend when you see him. He brightens our day, whenever he drops off a package, which is frequently at our house! He stands out from ALL other delivery drivers and we love him! Cheers to Anthony!”

“Thank you Anthony for all you do,” another neighbor said. “My 6-year-old daughter hasn’t seen either set of grandparents in over a year. This has been very hard on everyone. Many of the packages you deliver are from them. The joy the packages bring makes it worthwhile. Thank you for always delivering them with a kind smile and a friendly wave!”

Sometimes he is the only outside face we see during the day,” another neighbor wrote. “We appreciate his hard work and dedication during the pandemic, which delivered food, supplies, and even holiday gifts to a high-risk family.